Dr. Mahesh Deokar

Dr. Mahesh Deokar is currently a Professor and the Head of the Department of Pali and Buddhist Studies of the Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune 411 007, India. He is also the Director of the School of Indian Languages, SPPU, Pune. He is the Chief Editor of the Pune Indological Series and an Editor of the series Studia Indo-Buddhica. Prof. Deokar has completed his M.A. (Sanskrit) (1994) and M.A. (Pali) (1996) from Pune University. He was awarded a Ph.D. degree in Pali in 2002 from the same university. Prof. Deokar has teaching experience of twenty-four years and research experience of twenty-six years. He has fifteen years of experience in academic administration. He has supervised M. Phil's research of five students and Ph.D. research of seven students. Prof. Deokar was invited to deliver talks in prestigious academic institutions such as the Dharma Drum Buddhist College (Taiwan), Universities of Kanazawa and Tokyo (Japan), Hong Kong University (Hong Kong), Copenhagen University (Denmark), University of Hamburg (Germany), Universities of California and Chicago (USA) and University of Toronto (Canada). Prof. Deokar has one book, three booklets, six edited books and thirty-five research articles to his credit. He has jointly edited the first fascicule of the Dictionary of Buddhist Terms (Pali, Sanskrit, Tibetan and English). Prof. Deokar has received Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Jivan Gaurav Award, Bahujanabhūṣaṇa Award, Pilu Khambata Award, Best Teacher Award (National Association for the Blinds, Nashik Unit, Nashik) and Samājabhūṣaṇa Award, Kavyamitra Sanstha (Pune). Dr. Shrikant Ganvir Dr. Shrikant Ganvir is an Assistant Professor in the Department of AIHC and Archaeology, Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute, (Deemed to be University), Pune. He is a visiting faculty at the Department of Pali and Buddhist Studies, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune. He was a recipient of the UGC Junior and Senior Research Fellowships for doctoral research. He was a co-director of the Excavations at Nagardhan and Phanigiri. The books coedited by him include ‘A Preliminary Report of the Excavations at Nagardhan (ISPQS and Govt. of Maharashtra, 2020), ‘Cultural Heritage of South Asia and Beyond: Recent Perspective’ (Research India Press and SOSAA, 2020) and ‘Telangana through the Ages: Perspectives from Early and Medieval Period’ (Dept. of Heritage Telangana, Govt. of Telangana, 2019). He worked as an academic consultant to the Buddhavanam Project, Govt. of Telangana during 2018-21. Presently, he is working as a Principal Investigator of the joint project titled ‘Junnar: Archaeological Research and Tourism Development Project’, funded by RUSA, Maharashtra in collaboration with PAH Solapur University. He has published 30 research papers in both national as well as international journals. His research areas include Archaeology of Buddhism, Rock-cut Architecture, Buddhist Art & Iconography and Religious Paradigms of the Deccan. Dr. Pradeep P. Gokhale Dr. Pradeep P. Gokhale (born on 02-02-1953) was awarded Ph. D for his work on “Fallacies discussed in Ancient Indian Logic” completed under the supervision of Prof. S. S. Barlingay. He taught for 31 years in the post-graduate department of Philosophy of Savitribai Phule Pune University. Since January 2012 he was Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Research Professor (Chair Professor) in Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, Sarnath till 2018. His research areas are Classical Indian Philosophy and logic, Social Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion, Ambedkar studies, and Contemporary Buddhism. The books authored by him include: “Inference and Fallacies Discussed in Ancient Indian Logic” (Satguru Publication), “Lokāyata/Cārvāka: A Philosophical Inquiry” (OUP), and “Yogaūtra of Patañjali: A New Introduction to the Buddhist Roots of the Yoga System” (Routledge). The books edited by him include: “The Philosophy of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar” (IPQ Publication) and “Classical Buddhism, Neo-Buddhism and the Question of Caste” (Routledge). He has to his credit: around sixty articles in English and seventy articles in Marathi published in various journals and anthologies. Presently he is an Honorary Adjunct Professor in the Department of Pali and Buddhist Studies, Savitribai Phule Pune University.